Automatic ice making device

ABSTRACT

Present invention relates to an automatic system for releasing ice from mold, especially for coupling to a refrigerator for household use, comprising a container coupled by means of a connector to a motor means; said motor means once having been activated, inclines said connector and container and ejects the ice from the container. The system also makes use of an ejection mechanism which has an axis with a cam substantially along the length of said axis, said axis of the ejection mechanism is coupled unto the first end of the base, wherein the plurality of cavities of the base of the container form a contact area with the ejection mechanism.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to Mexican Patent Application No. MX/a/2014/001519 filed Jan. 30, 2015, and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an ice mold releasing system to be installed preferably in a refrigerator, and particularly, in a refrigerator with said system.

BACKGROUND

The following are known in the state of the art

-   -   Ice mold releasing systems, where in order to release the ice         from the mold, it is necessary to twist the container where the         ice itself is formed, wherein the problem which said twisting         systems suffer from is the reliability of the material subjected         to the twisting. Generally said containers tend to suffer         fractures which eventually lead to spilling, so that replacing         these systems is constant;     -   Systems in which the container in which the ice is formed,         present upper and lower surfaces, housings for the forming of         ice, so that the releasing of ice from the container involves         twisting the container 180° in order to fill out the exposed         surface, causing, given the temperature difference, that the         opposite side to the container is emptied out, where the         problems facing said twistable systems are the formation of ice         masses in the container given the formation of droplets in light         of the temperature differences between the filling water and the         ice on the opposite side of the container.

In order to address said problems, present invention has been developed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an automatic ice mold releasing system comprising a container coupled by means of a connector to a motor means, same which upon being activated, inclines said connector and container, and additionally drives an ejection mechanism which ejects the ice from the container.

The persons skilled in the art would be able to appreciate the advantages described above as well as other advantages and benefits of the various additional embodiments upon reading the following detailed description of the embodiments referencing the figures which are listed below. Additionally, the various features of the figures described below are not necessarily drawn to scale. The sizes of the various features and elements in the figures can be enlarged or reduced to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the exhibition.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The illustrative embodiment may be described referencing the accompanying figures, in which:

FIG. 1A shows a perspective view of the automatic ice mold releasing system in a resting position.

FIG. 1B shows a perspective view of the automatic ice mold releasing system in a driving position.

FIG. 2A shows a front view of the automatic ice mold releasing system in a resting position.

FIG. 2B shows a front view of the automatic ice mold releasing system in a driving position.

FIG. 3 shows an exploded view of the automatic ice mold releasing system.

FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of the automatic ice mold releasing system in a resting position, emphasizing the base as well as the housings.

FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of the automatic ice mold releasing system in a driving position, emphasizing the base as well as the housings.

FIGS. 6A and 6B show a lateral view and an upper view, respectively, of the base.

FIG. 7 shows a perspective view of the body.

FIG. 8 shows a lower view of the body.

FIGS. 9A, 9B and 9C show a lateral view, a frontal view and a perspective view, respectively of the planetary gear system.

FIGS. 10A and 10B show a lateral view and a perspective view respectively of the planetary or solar gear which forms a part of the planetary gear system.

FIG. 11A shows a frontal view of the planetary gear or pinion which forms a part of the planetary gear system.

FIG. 11B shows a frontal view and a lateral view of the ring or annular gear which forms part of the planetary gear system.

FIGS. 12A and 12B show a frontal view and a lateral view, respectively, of the connector.

FIGS. 13A and 13B show a frontal view and a lateral view, respectively, of the ejecting mechanism.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following description is made referencing FIGS. 1A through 13B in an indistinct manner.

The system according to the present exhibition may accommodate ice in any shape. In present description the terms “lower”, “upper”, “under”, “frontal”, “back” and “above”, indicate orientations, however they are not limiting in so far as the space of the system.

The present invention relates to an automatic ice mold releasing system (100) comprising a container (110) coupled by means of a connector (130) to a motor means (120), said motor means (120), once having been activated, rotates said connector (130) and inclines the container (110) and in turn drives an ejection mechanism (140) which ejects the ice from the container.

The container (110) comprises a base (11) which presents an upper surface (12) and a lower surface (13), the lower surface presents a plurality of cavities (14) which extend from the lower surface towards the upper surface, in such a way that they form projections (15) passed according to the horizontal one of the upper surface, as well as a contact area (16) with the ejection mechanism set longitudinally between said cavities. Over said upper surface (12) a plurality of male coupling elements (17) are found, which preferably are posts, wherein said male coupling elements preferably are staggered (18); and similarly, said upper surface (12) presents a plurality of fasteners (19) which are set surrounding said base (11).

Additionally said container (110) comprises a body (50) which presents an upper section (51), from which the peripheral skirt (52) extends downwardly. On said upper section (51) a plurality of apertures (53) are set, said apertures being horizontally collinear with the projections (15) set on the upper surface (12) of the base (11). On the inner part of said body (50), a plurality of female coupling elements (54) are found, which are coincidental with the plurality of male coupling elements (17) to be able to couple the base (11) with the body (50); similarly, it presents a plurality of hollow cavities (55) on the peripheral skirt (52), where said hollow cavities are coincidental with the fasteners (19) which are set on the base.

In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the cavities (14) as well as the apertures (53) have a semi-cylindrical shape. Other shapes which said cavities (14) and said apertures (53) can present in, are semi-spheres, trapezoidal, dodecahedron, triangular, truncated cone, semi-ellipsoid, among others. A person skilled in the art would understand that a plurality of shapes may be adopted.

The apertures (53) set on the upper section (51) of the body (50) present a first perimeter in the area closest to the upper surface of the body (50), a second perimeter in an intermediary area and a third perimeter in an area which is more distant from the upper surface of the body (50), the third perimeter being wider than the first perimeter and the second perimeter being smaller than the first perimeter, where said differences in perimeter form radial protuberances according to the intermediary area.

In an alternative embodiment of the present invention said apertures (53) are found interconnected by means of channels set on the upper surface of the upper section (51).

On each one of said apertures (53) a housing (55′) is set; said housing presents a coupling surface (56) with a radial protuberance set in the intermediary area of the upper section.

Similarly, in an alternative embodiment of the present invention, said housing (55′) presents on the upper section at least two grooves which coincide with the channels set on the upper section of the body which interconnect the apertures (53).

In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, said housing (55′) is semi-cylindrical.

The lower surface (57) of said housing (55′) is found in direct contact with the upper part of the projection (15) set on the upper surface (12) of the base (11).

The peripheral skirt (52) set on one of the ends presents a tab (58) which extends downwardly from the peripheral skirt and wherein the tab has an aperture (59) on said tab; on the opposite end, said skirt presents a recess (60).

Said container (110) is coupled on an end to a connector (130), said connector comprises a plate (61), said plate presents a frontal face (62) and a back face (63), an upper end (64) and a lower end (65), preferably said plate presents an inverted trapezoidal shape in such a way that the upper end is wider than the lower end, preferably said lower end is semi-circular; near the lower end an aperture (66) is found; said connector (130) presents an axis (67) which extends perpendicularly from said back face.

Under said container (110), the ejection mechanism (140) is assembled, which comprises an axis (68), which presents a cam (69) substantially along the length of said axis. One of the ends (70) of said axis is coupled unto the aperture (59) set on the tab (58) which extends downwardly from the peripheral skirt (52) set at the end of the container (110).

The motor means (120) comprises a motor (71), same which can be electric, and a planetary gear system (72), said planetary gear system comprises an annular or ring gear (73), a sun gear or planetary gear (74) at the center of said ring gear, and a planetary gear or pinion (75) set over the sun gear and the ring gear: the sun gear or planetary gear is set with a protuberance (76) and an aperture (78) at the center of said protuberance, The axis (67) which extends from the back face (63) of the connector (130) is coupled to the center of the planet gear or pinion (75), the protuberance (76) of the sun gear or planetary gear (74) is coupled to the aperture (66) set on the lower end (65) of the connector (130), in such a way that the free end (79) of the axis (68) which is set with a cam (69) is coupled unto the aperture (78) set at the center of the protuberance (76) which sticks out from said sun gear or planetary gear (74).

Said protuberance (76) which sticks out from the front face (77) of said sun gear or planetary gear (74) preferably presents, an oval shape.

The functioning of said automatic ice mold releasing system for ice is the following:

The water is poured into the container (110), which distributes itself uniformly to the housings (55′), said water is frozen to form ice within said housings: once the ice has formed and the user wishes to remove it from the housing (55′), the user may activate the motor means (120) or rather, a sensor may activate said motor means (120), wherein the sensor from a specific temperature defines the state of the water and determines if said motor means should be activated, motor means which twists the sun gear or planetary gear (74) in a first direction thereby driving the ejection mechanism (140) which forces the axis of the ejection mechanism (68) to turn and therefore the cam (69) in order to apply pressure on the impact area on the lower surface (13) of the base (11) of the container; forcing the twisting of said sun gear or planetary gear (74) in a first direction causes angular displacement on a first direction of the axis (68) together with the respective angular displacement of the cam (69) and the turning of the planetary gear or pinion (75) in a second direction, where the first direction is opposite to the second direction, causing angular displacement of the coupling that fastens the container (110), thus causing both to incline and consequently, the ice which are found within the housing (55′) become dislodged from the container (110); once the ice has been dislodged from the housings (55′), the motor (71) turns in the opposite direction to return the system to its initial position.

The embodiments previously described are merely illustrative for the principles of present invention. It is understood that the modifications and variations of the possible arrangements and of the details described in present disclosure are obvious to persons skilled in the art. Therefore, the intention is that the invention be limited only by the scope of the following patent claims and not by the specific details outlined in the specification and the explanation of the undertaking of the same. 

1. A system for releasing ice from a mold in a refrigerator comprising: a container with a base and a body coupled to each other, the body having a first end and a second end, and the base with a first surface and a second surface, the first surface having a plurality of cavities which extend themselves to the second surface forming projections according to said second surface, the first end of the body has a plurality of apertures which coincide with the projections, each one of the plurality of apertures has a housing; a connector has a plate with a first face which is coupled to said container and a second face with an axis which extends itself from said second face; an ejection mechanism which has an axis with a cam substantially along the length of said axis, said axis of the ejection mechanism is coupled to the first end of the base, wherein the plurality of cavities of the base of the container form a contact area with the ejection mechanism; and a motor means coupled to the second face of the connector by means of its axis, the motor means has a planetary gear system coupled to the ejection mechanism and the axis of the second face of the connector, said motor means capable of inclining said connector and container and driving said ejection mechanism.
 2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the base and the body of the container are coupled by means of a plurality of male-female elements.
 3. The system according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of apertures set on the body comprise a first perimeter in the area nearest the first surface, a second perimeter in the intermediary area and a third perimeter in an area furthest removed from the first surface; the third perimeter is greater than the first perimeter and the second perimeter is smaller than the first perimeter.
 4. The system according to claim 1, wherein said plurality of apertures are interconnected by means of channels set on the first surface, in such a way that said housing presents at least two coinciding grooves with the channels set on the interconnection of the plurality of apertures.
 5. The system according to claim 1, wherein the body has peripheral skirts which extend themselves from a section of the body, wherein the peripheral skirt has a tab which extends downwardly from said peripheral skirt, said tab has an aperture and wherein said skirt presents a recess in an opposite end to the end at which said tab is found; wherein the end of the axis of the ejection mechanism is coupled unto the aperture of the tab.
 6. The system according to claim 1, wherein the plate from the connector has a first end and a second end with an aperture.
 7. The system according to claim 6, characterized by the planetary gear system having a protuberance which extends from a front face of the planetary gear system towards the center thereof, wherein said protuberance has an aperture at the center of said protuberance which is coupled unto the aperture of the second end of the connector.
 8. A refrigerator comprising an ice factory wherein said ice factory presents the system for releasing ice from the mold of claim
 1. 9. The refrigerator according to claim 8, further comprising an ice factory wherein said ice factory presents the system for releasing ice from the mold of claim
 2. 10. The refrigerator according to claim 8, further comprising an ice factory wherein said ice factory presents the system for releasing ice from the mold of claim
 3. 11. The refrigerator according to claim 8, further comprising an ice factory wherein said ice factory presents the system for releasing ice from the mold of claim
 4. 12. The refrigerator according to claim 8, further comprising an ice factory wherein said ice factory presents the system for releasing ice from the mold of claim
 5. 13. The refrigerator according to claim 8, further comprising an ice factory wherein said ice factory presents the system for releasing ice from the mold of claim
 6. 14. The refrigerator according to claim 13, further comprising an ice factory wherein said ice factory presents the system for releasing ice from the mold of claim
 7. 